Fastening device for overshoes.



PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

J. M. MARCH. FASTENING'DEVIGE FOR OVERSHOES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. 1903.

no MODEL.

we cams Imus an, Pum'oumu, WASHINGTON. a. c,

Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT FFICE.

JACOB M. MARCH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR OVERSHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,884, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed May 27,1903. Serial No. 158,915. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, JACOB M. MARCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Fastening Devices for Overshoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of devices designed to be applied to shoes or overshoes for the purpose of detachably holding a rubber overshoe in place upon the ordinary leather shoe. i

The object of the invention is to provide a fastener which when applied to an overshoe will when the overshoe is placed on a shoe in the ordinary way automatically engage the shoe and securely hold the overshoe thereon;

The object of the invention is also to enable the fastener to be readily'and instantly disengaged prior to stripping the overshoe from the shoe.

Another object of the invention is to construct the fastener from a single piece of metal, thereby both strengthening and simplifying the device.

Asimple and reliable fastener for overshoes that will firmly hold the overshoe in place and at the same time not interfere with its ready and instant removal is a great desideratum for several reasons. In the first place an overshoe that fits tightly on the shoe is not only difficult to put on and take ofi, but it is positively uncomfortable to wear; yet the majority of overshoes worn do fit tightly and necessarily so, as when they fit loosely they are extremely liable to accidently slip ofi, especially when walking upon muddy ground. This tendency to accidental slipping ofi is very pronounced with a low-cut overshoe even when it is comparatively tight-fitting, and therefore there is but a restricted demand for the same, notwithstanding that they have certain advantages, such as neatness of appearance,overthe high-cutovershoe. Efforts have been made to provide effective fastenings for overshoes; but such fasteners have been made in several parts, are complicated, and require inconvenient manipulation in order to engage or disengage them prior to put ting on or taking oi the overshoe.

My invention consists of a fastener, constructed as hereinafter described and claimed, that is made of a single piece of metal, is simple in construction and operation, is efiective to hold the overshoe firmly in position on the shoe, and requires no manipulation prior to slipping the overshoe from the shoe other than a pressure against the back of the overshoe, which pressure may be exerted, if desired, by the other foot, thus enabling the overshoe to be detached without the aid of the hands.

My improved fastener is quite as effective with a loose-fitting overshoe as with one that is tight fitting, and therefore permits loosefitting overshoes to be worn, and inasmuch as a loose overshoe provided with my fastener can be applied and removed with substan tially the same ease and quickness as a loose overshoe not provided with my attachment it follows that it can be put on and taken off with much more ease and celeritythan the ordinary tight-fitting rubber shoe.

In the drawings, Figure l is a rear perspectiveview of myimproved fastener. Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the sheet of metal as it is stamped by the die and before being bent into shape to form the fastener. Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the fastener. applied to an overshoe and in engagement with a shoe, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the interior of the heel of the overshoe.

In Fig. 3 I have shown asheet of metal after it is stamped by the die and before being bent into shape to form the fastener. The blank so formed is bent as follows: The holdingtongue b is bent outwardly and then inwardly toward the right-hand end of the blank until it lies opposite to and back of the slot 6 in the shank a. The left-hand extension 0 of the blank is bent upon itself on the line a; m, so as to lie in front of the shank Ct. The locking-tongue d of the portion a is of about the width of the slot f, formed in the shank portion by the described bending of the tongue I).

The shank a, tongue b, and portion 0 are either before or after the bending operations described bent into the shape shown in Figs.

1 and 2, so that in the completed fastener the shank from its top curves gently forwardly, thence gently backwardly, thence more sharply forwardly, and thence quite sharply downwardly in a substantially straight line. A shallow shoulder is formed a short distance from the top of the shank. The wider upper end. of the portion 0 lies above the shoulder. The tongue dis of about the width of the slotf, and the upper half of the tongue extends into the slot and lies substantially flush with or slightly back of the shank a, while the lower free end of the tongue is bent rather sharply forwardly and projects not only a considerable distance in front of the slotf, but also in front of the straight lower section of the shank, the end of the tongue being substantially opposite the upper end of the straight portion of the shank. Midway between its ends the tongue cl has two laterallyextending lugs g g, which are not essential, but which by engaging the rear face'of the shank perform the useful function of short ening the leverage of the tongue when it is engaged with the sole of the shoe, as hereinafter described. The tongue I) at its upper end bends slightly forwardly and thence for the major portion of its length extends substantially straight and parallel to the lower end of the shank. A lug h, bent from the metal at the base of the slot (2, projects backwardly and holds the lower end of tongue b a definite distance back of the lower end of the shank.

The method of applying my fastener to an overshoe is as follows: I first form in the rear wall of the overshoe 0 a pocket 19. This pocket may be formed in any convenient way, either by forming it integral with the overshoe in the manufacture of the same or by taking a strip m of leather or other material and sewing the sides thereof to the rear wall of the overshoe. This pocket is open at top and bottom. To apply the fastener, the tongue I) is slightly retracted by hand and then inserted into the upperend of the pocket and slipped through the same. When the lower end of the tongue emerges from the pocket, it immediately snaps forwardly into contact with the lug h, thereby securely holding the entire fastener in position in the heel of the overshoe. The overshoe is applied to the shoe in precisely the ordinary way. When the overshoe is in place on the shoe, the tongue d springs into the crease formed between the heel and the upper of the shoe, at once locking the overshoe in position. To remove the overshoe, it is only necessary to apply pressure against the heel of the overshoe just behind the rearwardly-curved upper end of the shank a and portion 0, thereby withdrawing the tongue d from its seat. This preliminary pressure against the top of ,the fastener may be done with the other foot, and by then raising the heel the overshoe is stripped off. In fact, a loose overshoe may be put on and taken off without the aid of the hands.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

, 1. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank,a locking-tongue,and a holding-tongue, said locking-tongue being connected withthe upper part of the shank and projecting in front of the same, and said holding-tongue being connected with the central portion of the shank and extending longitudinally along and back of the same.

2. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank, an extension from the upper end of the shank bent upon the shank to form a looking tongue, and a holding-tongue bent upon the shank between its ends and extending downwardly alongside of the shank.

3. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank and locking-tongue connected at their upper ends, each being bent successively forwardly, rearwardly and forwardly, the lower free end of the tongue extending in front of the shank.

4. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank extending from its upper end successively forwardly, rearwardly and forwardly to a point between its ends and thence downwardly, a tongue extending along said shank from its upper end to about said point, said tongue being bent similarly to the portion of the shank along which it extends, its lower forwardly-extending end however projecting in front of the shank.

' 5. The combination, withan overshoe, of a fastenerconsisting of a shank, an extension forming a locking tongue bent upon the shank, the shank and its extension being connected together at their upper ends and a holding-tongue bent upon the shank and extending alongside of the lower end of the shank, and means in the overshoe adapted to.

engage said holding-tongue and thereby hold the fastener in operative position.

6. An overshoe-fastener consisting partly of a shank, the upper portionv of which is provided with a slot formed by cutting a holding-tongue therefrom, said tongue being integrally connected with the shank at the lower end of the slot and being bent upon the lower portion of the shank, and consisting partly of a locking-tongue extending from the upper end of the shank and bent upon the upper portionof the shank.

7. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank,alocking-tongue and a holding-tongue, said holding-tongue being connected to the shank between the ends and extending opposite the lower portion of the shank, and the locking-tongue being connected to the shank at its upper end and extending along the shank to a point substantially opposite the upper end of the holding-tongue.

8. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank curved from its upper end successively forwardly, rearwardly and forwardly and provided with a longitudinallyextending slot below the upper forward bend, and an extension having a tongue of substantially the width of the slot integrally connected with the upper end of the shank, the upper end of the extension being widened out to substantially the width of the shank andlying against and in front of the same, the tongue being of substantially the width of the slot and being bent successively rearwardly and forwardly to its lower free end, the forwardly-extending free end of the tongue projecting substantially in front of the shank.

9. An overshoe fastener consisting of a shank provided with a slot in its upper portion formed by cutting a holdingtongue therefrom, said tongue being integrally connected with the shank at the lower end of the slot, the portion of the shank below the slot being curved forwardly and thence in a substantially straight line downwardly to its lower end, the said tongue being bent back of the shank, and extending alongside the straight lower portion of the shank, and a locking-tongue connected with the shank.

10. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank having a slot in its upper portion and an extension integrally connected with its upper end, said extension being bent in front of the shank and having atongue, the upper portion whereof extends slightly behind the shank and the lower free end whereof projects substantially in front of the shank, and lugs projecting from said tongue and engaging the back of the shank adjacent to the slot.

11. An overshoe-fastener consisting of, a shank,a locking-tongue and a holding-tongue, said lockingtongue being, connected with the upper part of the shank and projectingin front of the same and said holding-tongue lying back of the lower part of the shank, and a lug at the lower end of the shank extending rearwardly and engaging the holdingtongue.

12. Anovershoe-fastener consisting of a shank having a slot in its upper part and a slot in its lower part, a locking-tongue connected with the upper part of the shank and extending into said slot and thence in front of the shank, and a holding-tongue connected with the central part of the shank and extending alongside of the lower slotted part thereof.

13. An overshoe-fastener consisting of a shank, said shank, from its upper end, being curved successively forwardly, rearwardly, forwardly and thence in a substantially straight line downwardly, the upper portion of the shank being provided with a slot formed by cutting a holding-tongue therefrom, said holding-tongue being integrally connected with the shank at the lower end of the slot and being bent back of and alongside of the lower straight portion of the shank, and an extension integrally connected with the upper end of the shank and being bent upon and in front of the shank and having a tongue extending into the slot, the extension being bent similarly to the upper portion of the shank, but the lower end of the tongue having a more pronounced forward bend and extending substantially in front of the shank.

14. An overshoe-fastener, consisting of a shank, said shank, from its upper end, being curved successively forwardly, rearwardly and forwardly and thence in a substantially straight line downwardly, the upper portion of the shank being provided with a slot formed by cutting a holding-tongue therefrom, said holding-tongue being integrally connected with the shank at the lower end of said slot and being bent back of and alongside of the lower straight portion of the shank, the shank having formed thereon a shallow shoulder near its upper end, an extension integrally connected with the upper end of the shank and bent upon and in front of the shank and having a widened upper part lying above said shoulder and a locking-tongue below said shoulder of about the width of the slot, said tongue extending backwardly into said slot and thence forwardly substantially in front of the shank, lugs extending laterally from said tongue above the forward bend thereof and engaging the rear face of the shank, the

lower straight portion of the shank being also slotted, and a lug integral with the shank and extending rearwardly from the lower end of the lower slot. r

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on this 26th day of May, 1903.

JACOB M. MARCH.

Witnesses:

FRANK S. BUSSER, M. M. HAMILTON. 

